Mom
by PamEargle
Summary: Padme lives ... and is hiding in plain sight. Co-written with Slider23.
1. Chapter 1

Padmé looked at her two children. She couldn't believe they had arrived. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breathing ignoring the pain that was still pulsing though her body. She was just glad to have some joy again in her life. Her heart, which she thought Anakin had broken completely, felt like it was being mended back together with each glance and gentle touch of her children's faces.

Obi-Wan smiles sweetly at her. She grabbed his hand. "Aren't they perfect?" She said to him as her smile lit up her whole face. The joy of finally meeting her children reflecting in her eyes.

Obi-Wan gently stroked her daughter's face with is finger. "This one will do great things like her mother. I can already tell."

Padmé smiled. "And him," she asked as she gently caressed her son's cheek and than gently pushed his hair back.

A dark cloud seemed to form in ObiI-Wan's eyes as he replied, "He will be stronger than his father." Obi-Wan quickly turned his face away from Padmé.

"Obi-Wan," Padmé sighed out as she grasped his hand. "There is still good in him, I know it. "

"It doesn't matter now, Padmé." Obi-Wan said turning back toward her, but removing her hand from his. " What matters now, is keeping them away from him. You know he will look for them."

"I can run with them," Padmé said pulling her daughter tight into her chest. "I'm their mother. I will keep them safe."

Obi-Wan grabbed her hand, a tear falling down his face. "You're not ready. Padmé, you almost died. I honestly thought this day would end in tragedy. Instead, you brought to perfect babies into the world."

"I won't let them go. I'm their mother." Padmé said her tears falling onto her daughter's head.

"If he knows you are alive, he will come for you. If he knows they are alive, he will come for them." Obi-Wan said as he gently tilted Padmé's head up to make eye contact with her. "I have a plan."

"What do I have to do?" Padmé asked staring defiantly into Obi-Wan's eyes.

"You have to die."

... Almost 16 years later...

Leia knew they'd find her sooner rather than later.

Only because she knew the palace guards and knew their training. She sparred with them, even sat in on some meetings.

She was usually pristine, her hair in some sort of formal updo. Her simple white dress was filthy and her dark brown hair was loose, hanging to her waist un-brushed.

Jutting her chin in the air, she slid her hands into her sleeves as was custom. Walking silently behind the two men assigned to her safety, she took one last look at her rustic little fort and headed back to her posh palace.

How? Why? What could they possibly be thinking? She loved her parents. They were perfect. They loved her. She wanted to honor them, serve them, be worthy of eventually becoming queen. But she'd be damned if she let them tell her who to love and marry. She would marry for love or not at all. She knew he was out there. Somewhere. The man to share her adventures with. Her life with... Her body with. Until she met him, she would remain pure and steadfast.

They entered the foyer and the first pair of eyes her eyes met were hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Padmé paced back and forth in front of Bail her cloak dragging along the ground "Nervous?" Bail asked her, his voice deep and soothing.

Padmé tilted her head and gave him a withering stare. "Why would I be nervous? Is it because we are finally going to tell Leia the woman she though was her father's cousin is actually her mother. That this woman she has had a close relationship with, who she has told secrets to, has been lying to her her whole life?" She stayed in front of Bail crossing her arms.

Bail wanted to chuckle. He had seen the very same 'I'm not amused' face on Leia's face so many times. "Honestly," Bail said as he rested his right hand gently on Padmé's shoulder. "I thought Leia would have figured it out already. She is so much like you, strong and intelligent beyond belief. Watching you two together is like watching one of you talk to your reflection. You make the same facial expressions."

"I love her. My heart has ached for years to tell her the truth. I'm so afraid," she said as she placed her hand on top of Bail's, taking the small comfort he offered. "Did you come in here to check on me," Padmé asked stepping away from Bail.

"No," Bail said as he averted his eyes from Padmé. " I have news about Galen Erso."

"Did we find him finally?"

"No, he moved again last night. We don't know where he has gone."

Padmé quickly stepped in front of Bail her eyes blazing. "He didn't go anywhere, Bail. They took him somewhere."

"I know you want to believe that Padmé, but he is helping them," Bail said his deep voice booming.

Padmé flinched slightly, but she did not back down. "Galen has his reasons and we have to believe that Bail. He has always been a good man. He doesn't want a war."

"Is there still good in him, like Anakin?" Bail felt sick when he finished his question. That outburst was not like him. He watched as Padmé fought her tears.

Padmé's voice was low and strong. It had an almost threatening tone to it as she replied, "Galen knows who I am, Bail. I never told him, but you know that man knows. If he really had betrayed us, don't you think Vader would have stormed through that door."

"I'm sorry Padmé. My words got away from me," Bail said slowly approaching her. "You're right if he had betrayed us, he would have told Anakin."

Padmé quickly interrupted him. "No Bail. Vader is a lot of things, but he isn't Anakin."

Before Bail could reply, Breha burst through the door, "Leia is missing."


	3. Chapter 3

Leia narrowed her eyes and ran full speed down the wide hallway to her posh suite. She slammed the door and flopped onto her bed.

She loved her parents. She really did. And she knew they loved her. She wanted to honor them, obey them, be worthy of being queen when they were gone.

But there was no way she was going to allow them to plan her love life, marry her off to some prince she never even laid eyes on. She would do anything and everything to avoid that, to show them she would never stand for it.

Of course they never said anything to her face. She had no idea if they were even planning it. However, she had overheard them talking about... someone. Something. And that was enough for her.

It was dusk. The window was open. There were two massive thranta birds playing in the gardens. She stood up, undid her hair, took off her belt and jewelry, grabbed a bag of rations she kept under her elegant, posh canopy bed and headed to her desk. She picked up a data pad and typed out a message.

 _ **"I love you, but I am not going to allow you to arrange my life.**_

 _ **Especially my love life.**_

 _ **I will marry for love only.**_

 _ **You married for love, no one arranged anything for either of you. You met as teenagers and have had a long, wonderful life together. I want that, too.**_

 _ **I'll find the one I'm meant to be with, not you. Don't worry about me, worry about forcing me into something I do not want.**_

 _ **I'll see you soon."**_

What else could she say?

She'd miss her fathers cousin and Amilyn. But... They'd been so secretive, quiet, distant recently. They'd never miss her.

She left the data pad on her bed with the message on lock, went out onto the balcony and coaxed the female thranta to her with a jogen fruit.

As they soared through the air towards the mountains on the left side of the palace, she realized how free and happy she felt.

She chose a place with a view of the entire palace to erect her new home using all the skills she learned from the soldiers and training.

She swam and watched animals and hiked all all day and slept under the stars all night.

A whole week went by before the inevitable happened and the guards found her.


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean she is missing?" Padmé said quickly covering the distance in the large room to get to Breha.

Breha grabbed both her hands in her own. "The guards are already searching for her. She left a note. I went to check to see if she was ready for dinner and there it was sitting in the middle of her bed."

Bail grabbed Padmé as her knees failed and she began to glide to the ground. The day had already begun to take a toll on her emotions and now this. "What did the note say?" Bail asked as he guided Padmé to a soft chair in the corner of the room.

"Some nonsense about her marrying for love and not for politics. I don't know where she would have gotten the idea we would force her to marry." Breha sighed loudly as she noticed Bail's guilty look. "Bail, you tell me right now what you said to her."

"I may have told her she wasn't getting married until she was 35 and even then I was going to pick her husband. This was over a week ago. I don't understand why she would be running or why she took me seriously. It was just a father being a father to his little girl." Bail said as he handed Padmé a glass of water.

"Oh honey," Breha said taking Bail's hand. "You know your voice has that deep tone and sometimes we have a hard time determining when you are joking." She stepped away,"But you're right I don't know what got into Leia's head and made her run off."

"This one may be my fault actually." Padmé said gently setting down the glass of water in her hand. "Leia was complaining about waiting until she was 35 to marry. I mentioned I would be more upset about not being able to marry for love. I told her I had married for love."

Bail stepped back as she said to her in a whispered tone,"You told her about Anakin?"

Padmé averted her eyes from his gaze. "I didn't tell her his name. I just told her the story. How I met a young slave. He was brave, courageous, and intelligent. He was younger than me, and I had thought nothing of romance, only friendship. I spoke about being separated and of us growing up. I told her about the day I realized I was completely in love with him. I told her ours was a forbidden love, but our love was more important than rules."

"What did she say?" Bail asked as he kneeled next to Padmé and grabbed her hand. He knew the toll it took on her to speak of those days with Anakin. Bail could count on one hand the number of times in the past almost 16 years that Padmé had spoke of Anakin.

"Leia thought for a moment. She finally looked me right in the eye and asked me what had happened to him." Padmé said her head tilted up toward the ceiling as she fought the tears that wanted to spill down her face. She briefly wondered if the thought of her wayward love would ever not bring tears and heart ache.

"And did you tell her?" Breha said as she kneeled on Padmé other side.

"I told her the truth. It was to difficult to speak of." Padmé said looking briefly from Bail to Breha. "I couldn't stand to tell her one more lie."

Bail nodded his head and squeezed Padmé's. He stood quickly as they heard a loud noise coming from outside. "It sounds like the guards have returned. Perhaps they have found Leia." 


	5. Chapter 5

Padmé sat down on a pen old tree log and wiped the sweat from her brow. It had been a week since Leia had gone missing and the guards had lost track of her. Padmé had been searching the mountains for her daughter. She remembered exploring the Gallo mountains in her home planet of Naboo and she was thankful for the time she spent doing so. She hoped her experience would serve her well as she searched for her child.

Padmé knew she should head back soon as the darkness approached. Bail has not been thrilled when she announced she was going out on her own to search for Leia. He had tried to stop her, but realized he did not want to mess with mamma Wookiee. Padmé sometimes felt like Bail treated like another daughter rather than an equal. She understood that it was just the way he showed he cared. Her closeness with Bail was something that she treasures. She trusted him with not only her child, but also helping lead the rebellion. Her people needed the rebels to succeed. She missed her people dearly. It had been too long since she stepped foot on her home planet, but her children needed her.

She stood up and began the trek back to the palace. Her thoughts drifted to her son, who she had not laid eyes on in 10 years. He looked so much like a young Anakin with his blond hair the last time she saw him. Bail had decided it was getting too risky for her to visit Luke. Her son had begun to ask questions and others had begun to take notice of the Organa's ships coming and going. It was just another piece of Padmé's heart that was missing. She wondered when she would have no more pieces to give. It was hard, almost impossible to stay away from her son. Unfortunately, she was well aware of what the consequences could be if she or he were discovered. It would break her heart to continue to stay away, but her son would live and how could she turn her back on that?

As Padmé stepped into the palace grounds, a guard rushed to her.

"Leia has been found," he said, as Padmé felt a weight be lifted off her shoulders.


End file.
